Alton Towers rides are among the most popular and arguably the best in the UK/Europe. They are of an extreme nature. Like Nemesis, an awesome ride that leaves passenger's legs free to dangle, and Oblivion, which was the world's first vertical drop roller coaster. I confess to having ridden both of those. Another of the more famous is Air. Air suspends passengers in a horizontal position, creating a sensation of flying through the air. Having visited the theme park and having got over the rides which nowadays I refuse to go on I retreated to look at the surrounding gardens which are a collection of different styles and themes, just like the rides.

The gardens were designed by the eccentric 15th Earl of Shrewsbury, apparently he consulted every famous artist, only to avoid whatever was recommended. LOL. instead he created gardens that were a mixture of styles, a bit like collecting books in a library or different paintings. There is a Swiss Cottage, a Stonehenge, a Dutch garden, a Pagoda Fountain, based on the To Ho pagoda in Canton, a Choragic Monument copied from Athens and many other features. The rides and slides of the modern Theme Park add to the eccentricity of an early nineteenth century nobleman's fancy. Most of the parkland is now occupied by "sensational" rides which started to be installed from 1980s onwards.

The following is a series of photographs taken around 2009 I hope you enjoy looking through them and maybe even getting some design ideas for smaller scale recreations